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Data from: Back to the future: evolving bacteriophages to increase their effectiveness against the pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1

Betts A, Vasse M, Kaltz O, Hochberg ME

Date Published: June 14, 2013

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.5hf57

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Data set for analysis of cross-infection experiment, testing the resistance of evolved (t1) bacteria against the different ancestral phages (fig. 3 in manuscript). Columns as follows: (1) Phage isolate; (2) Bacterial origin (evolved with one of 4 phage isolates); (3) replicate ID; (4) number of resistant colonies; (5) number of total colonies.

AbstractAntibiotic resistance is becoming increasingly problematic for the treatment of infectious disease in both humans and livestock. The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa is often found to be resistant to multiple antibiotics and causes high patient mortality in hospitals. Bacteriophages represent a potential option to combat pathogenic bacteria through their application in phage therapy. Here we capitalize on previous studies showing how evolution may increase phage infection capacity relative to ancestral genotypes. We passaged four different phage isolates (podoviridae, myoviridae) through six serial transfers on the ancestral strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. We first demonstrate that repeated serial passage on the ancestral bacteria increases bacteriophage infection capacity on ancestral hosts and on those evolved for one transfer. This result is confirmed when examining the ability of evolved phage to reduce ancestral host population sizes. Second, through interaction with a single bacteriophage for 24 hours, P. aeruginosa can evolve resistance to the ancestor of that bacteriophage; this also provides these evolved bacteria with cross-resistance to the other three bacteriophages. We discuss how the evolutionary training of phages could be employed as effective means of combatting bacterial infections or disinfecting surfaces in hospital settings, with reduced risk of bacterial resistance compared to conventional methods.